Murphy guns for United in bid to help his old Liverpool mates

20 March 2009 02:21

No one has a scoring record against Manchester United quite like Danny Murphy and the Fulham skipper has promised to do all he can to help his former Liverpool team-mates close the gap in the title race when Sir Alex Ferguson's side visit CravenCottage on Saturday.
Liverpool's stunning win at Old Trafford has put pressure on United, who will look to bounce back against a Fulham side they beat soundly in the FA Cup on the same ground a fortnight ago.
But the champions must be wary of the threat from their old nemesis Murphy, a man with a remarkable hold over United during Gerard Houllier's reign at Anfield.
Three times in four seasons Liverpool left Old Trafford with a 1-0 win and on each occasion it was Murphy who scored the decisive goal.
What Murphy would give for another winning goal this weekend.
'I would absolutely love that, it would make a lot of people I know very happy,' said themidfielder, who saw his old pals before Liverpool faced United because Fulham were staying in the same Manchester hotel.
'The result Liverpool got at Old Trafford was fantastic. I noticed it had gone to 3-1 before our game at Bolton and I was made up for the boys because they've had quite a lot of stick recently.'
Murphy's free-kick in 2000 gave Liverpool their first victory at Old Trafford in a decade and he followed that up with a late winner to dent United's title hopes in 2002 and a decisive penalty in 2004.
He added: 'United have got great qualities but, who knows, maybe they will start to feel the pressure a bit. They know what it's all about because they have been up there so many times, but they will know Liverpool are chasing them and it's how they react and deal with that.'
Murphy thinks Fulham will give a better account of themselves against United this time.
'We know we can give anyone a game at our place,' he said.